Secondhand History Books

'I don't remember seeing a flash. I didn't hear the blast -- I was too close. Like a distorted film, my vision stretched and turned yellow. I was just three...

Daniel Jonah Goldhagen cuts through the historical and moral fog to lay out the full extent of the Catholic Church's involvement in the Holocaust, transforming a narrow discussion fixated on...

The stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947 liberated 400 million Indians from the British Empire. One of the defining moments of world history had been brought about by a...

'He writes history like nobody else. He thinks like nobody else ... He sees the world as a whole, with its limitless fund of stories' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday TimesWhere have...

The rise of Barack Obama is one of the great stories of this century: a defining moment for America, and one with truly global resonance. This is the book of...

This is a probing of the realities, as distinct from the theory, of politics in the UK. It concentrates on two main issues. One is the role of Parliament with...

Over 30 million foreigners travel to Spain every year - more than any other country, yet all but a handful see little of the country besides the holiday costas. This...

In 1776 Foote's was the most talked-of name in the English-speaking world. By 1777 it was almost unmentionable. Samuel Foote, friend of David Garrick and Dr Johnson, is the greatest...

Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire presents a study of third century Rome, which is lavishly illustrated and a lucid read, typical of Michael Grant's inimitable style.In Collapse and...

This biography views Bunyan's works in the context of the social, political and religious context of the times, concentrating on his humble origins, the revolution of the 1640s and his...

Attempts to show what happened to slavery in an urban environment and to reconstruct the texture of life of the Negroes who lived in bondage in the cities.

A survey of the events of the Thatcher era of government in Britain, updated to include developments since the 1987 election victory. The commentary is both historical and political, concentrating...

In a radical departure from her previous work, Janice Galloway's new novel is based on the life of Clara Schumann: celebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist and composer, editor and teacher, friend...

The story of King Charles II is one of enduring fascination. The golden childhood of the boy Prince in the Van Dyck pictures gave way to an adventurous youth in...

Between 1890 and 1918, British colonial expansion in Africa led to the removal of many valuable African artifacts that were subsequently brought to Britain and displayed. This fascinating book analyses...

Terry Jones' Barbarians takes a completely fresh approach to Roman history. Not only does it offer us the chance to see the Romans from a non-Roman perspective, it also reveals...

From the bestselling author of "Rifles", the remarkable lives - and battles - of ten of Britain's greatest generals. Mark Urban tells the story of ten exceptional soldiers who left...

History will always remember the Edisons, Einsteins and Darwins. But what about the others with similarly revolutionary ideas, but who plummeted into oblivion? Here are the extraordinary, and inspirational, lives...

America is the last remaining superpower. Yet what does this triumph mean when the challenges we face often defy military solutions? In Temptations of a Superpower, one of our most...

From the earliest times, commanders have sought knowledge of the enemy, his strengths and weaknesses, his dispositions and intentions. But how much effect, in the 'real time' of a battle...